Convertible skirt and culotte



Jan. 30, 1945. WOLMAN ET AL 2,368,1 89

CONVERTIBLE SKIRT AND CULOTTE Filed June 14', 1941 fi liw my: 0%.

Patented Jan. 30, 1945 UNITED STATE S PATE NT OFF] CE CONVERTIBLE :I ZEZ' AND GULO'ITE Leonard Wolman and Harry Deutsch Ghicago, Ill.

Application-June, 1941, Serial No. 397,998

1 Claim.

Our present invention relates tothe provision of a garment of the skirt-culotte type. It should be borne in mind that while the names skirt: and culotte cover quite a number: of differently designed: garments, the present styles require these respective forms of garments to be made with neatness and elegance and without suggestion of convertibility; In other. words, it distinctly detracts from the appearance bear evidence that it can be transformed into a bifurcated or divided garment and the present style of culotte requires the legportion to' hang as nicely as a well designed skirt, withsuitable provision for a crotch portion which does not pull'or' distort the other portions of the garment or cause the wearer discomfort.

We have accomplishedv the provision. of a: con.- vertible garment in which, when in skirt form, the inverted, plaits and all other; portionsof the skirthang from the belt; and which in culotte form provides an ample: crotch which does not needto andwhich' does not-absorb any portion of the exterior of the garment in providing the crotch forming material. The conversion either from skirt to culotte' or from'culotte to skirtv may be. easily effected while the garment is: being. Worn. Itis, therefore, apparent that theobject of our invention is to provide a convertible garment of the skirt-culotte type which is an improvement upon, and has certain inherent advantages over, previously designed convertible garments of the same general character.

We have attained the foregoing objects by means of the structure illustratedin the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of ment embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical or longitudinal section of the garment looking toward the garment. frontand showing thev interior of the construction-of the front of the garment;

a convertible gar- Fig; 3 is a. vertical or longitudinal section look- I ing towards the rear of thegarment and showing the arrangement and construction of the ill-- terior of therear of. the garment;

Figmi is an horizontalsection taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1. and" skirt form ;and.

Fig. 5 is a similarhorizontalsection but show ing, however, thegarment in culotte form,

A garment embodying our presentinvention is formed of fabric or any other suitable flexible material and mayhaveas-many vertical panels as the tailor may deem necessary or desirable for securing the desired shape and style. However, the requisites for securing convertibility as herein described and illustrated, are two front exterior panels, I 0 and II, two rear exterior panels. I2 and I3, a front intermediate interior panel I4, and a rear intermediate interior anel I5.

of the skirt for it. to.

showing the garment. in

, lower end of the stitching I6.

- of thegarment.

and II are disposed in side by side relation and- The upper margins of the frontand rear panels are stitched or otherwise suitably secured to a belt which, as shown in Figure 101" the drawing; is adapted to surround the waist of the wearer The front exterior panel I0 have the inner side margins thereof inwardly doubled back to form infoldments Illa and Ma. The rear exterior panels I2 and I3 are disposed directly behind the front exterior panels I0 and II, respectively, and have their inner side margins inwardly doubled back to form infoldments I2a and I3a. When the garment is in skirt form the front intermediate internal panel I4 is disposed directly behind the infoldments I (la and Na and forms therewith an inverted plait. The folds of the front panels I0 and II are normally disposed in close proximity with One another when the garment is" worn and have the upper portions thereof stitched together and to the upper portion of the center line of the front intermediate interior panel'l4- by stitching I6. The latter, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, extends downwards from the belt crotch of the wearer of' the garment. The free side edge of the infoldment Illa of the'front panel I!) is stitched to the adjacent side edge of the front interior panel I4 by stitching I1. The lower portion of the free side edge of the infoldment Na and the adjacent side edge of the interior panel I4 are separate from one another andare in effect slit, the slit extending from the bottom of the garment to a point adjacent the A hookless or slide type fastener 22 of the Zipper or Talon type is applied to the slit edges of the infoldment Ila and the front interior panel I4 and serves when the garment is in skirt form to connect such edges together. The front plait is provided with'transverse stitching I9a and this leads inwards from the upper end of the slit in the front plait to the longitudinal center line of the front intermediate panel I4 and serves to connect the portion of said panel I4, that is immediately inwards of the, upper end of the slit to the continguous portion of the infoldment I la. The part of, the, front plait that is directly above the stitching Illa is provided witha transverse cut I9 and thisextends inwards from the upper end of. the

slit to a point-adjacent the inner-end. of said stitching. I9a. Avhookless or slide type fastener 2.0. serves tosecure together the cut, edges of the frontplait when the garmentis used. as a skirt.

When the garment is in its skirt form andv the fastener 201's closed such fastener serves tohold in place the lower portion of the infoldment Ila and serves to prevent such portion from sagging and thus distorting the front plait. The slide part of the fastener 22 is adapted to run or be to a point adjacent the meet the portion of said panel slid upwards to effect opening of the slit in the front plait. The slide of the fastener 20 is adapted to run or be slid inwards from the upper end of the slit in the front plait to the inner end of the cut I9 in connection with release of said fastener 20. When the garment is in skirt form the fasteners 22 and 20 are closed with the result that the inverted plait in the front of the garment is completed so far as form is concerned.

The folds of the rear exterior panels I2 and I3 are normally disposed in closed proximity to one another when the garment is worn and have the upper portions thereof stitched together and to the upper portion of the center line of the rear intermediate interior panel I5 by stitching Mia. The latter, as shown in Figure 3, extends downwards from the garment belt to a point adjacent the crotch of the wearer of the garment. The free side edge of the infoldment I3a of the rear panel I3 is stitched to the adjacent side edge of the rear interior panel I5 by stitching I8. The lower portion of the free side edge of the infoldment I2a and the adjacent side edge of the interior panel I5 are separate from one another and are in effect slit, the slit extending from the bottom of the garment to a point adjacent the lower end of the stitching I6a. A hookless o1 slide type fastener 23 of the Zipper or Talon type is applied to the slit edges of the infoldment I2a and the rear interior panel I5 and serves when the garment is in skirt form to connect such edges together. The rear plait is provided with transverse stitching 2| and this leads inwards from the upper end of the slit in the rear plait to the longitudinal center line of the rear intermediate panel I5 and serves to con- I5 that is immediately inwards of the upper end of the slit in the rear plait to the contiguous portion of the infoldment I2a. The part of the rear plait that is directly above the stitching 2I is provided with a transverse cut 24 and this extends inwards from the upper end of the slit to a point adjacent the inner end of said stitching 2I. A hookless or slide type fastener 25 serves to secure together the cut edges of the rear plait when the garment is used as a skirt. When the garment is in its skirt form and the fastener 25 is closed such fastener serves to hold in place the lower portion of the infoldment I2a and serves to prevent such portion from sagging and thus distorting the rear plait. The slide part of the fastener 23 is adapted to run or be slid upwards to effect opening of the slit in the rear plait. The slide of the fastener 25 is adapted to run or be slid inwards from the upper end of the slit in the rear plait to the inner end of the cut 24 in connection with release of said fastener 25. When the garment is in skirt form the fasteners 23 and 25 are closed with the result that the inverted plait in the rear of the garment is completed so far as form is concerned.

Figures 1 to 4, inclusive show the garment in skirt form with the fasteners 22, 20, 23 and 25 in their closed position. When it is desired to convert the garment to a culotte the fasteners 22 and 23 are forcedopen. Thereafter, as shown in Figure 5, the lower portion of the free side edge of the front interior panel I4 is connected to the lower portion of the free side edge of the infoldment I2a by the slide of the fastener 22 and provided with detachable means the lower portion of the free side edge of the rear interior panel I5 is connected to the lower portion of the free side edge of the infoldment He by the slide part of the fastener 23. After this particular operation the garment is in the form shown in Figure 5. Thereafter the fasteners 20 and 25 are opened so that the portions of the front and rear plaits beneath the cuts I9 and 24 droop and thus accommodate the crotch of the wearer of the garment.

The herein described convertible garment is pleasing in appearance when in skirt form or culotte form. It is simple in design and may be produced at a low cost. In addition, the construction is such that the garment may be converted from one form to the other while being worn.

The invention is not to be understood as restricted to the details set forth since these may be modified within the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A convertible garment of the skirt-culotte type formed of flexible material and comprising when in skirt form a tubular body adapted to extend around and downwards from the wearers waist and having substantially full length front and rear inverted plaits in the form of infoldments and intermediate interior panels, each of the plaits having one of the inner corners thereof slit upwards from the bottom to a point adjacent the crotch of the wearer of the garment and for securing the slit edges together when the garment is used as a skirt, also having transverse stitching leading inwards from the upper end of the slit to the longitudinal center line of the intermediate interior panel of the plait and serving to connect together the portion of said intermediate interior panel that is immediately inwards of the upper end of said slit to the contiguous portion of the adjacent infoldment of the plait, and in addition having the part thereof directly above the stitching cut inwards from the upper end of the slit to a point adjacent the inner end of the stitching and provided with detachable means for securing the cut edges together when the garment is used as a skirt, the slits in the two plaits being formed in corners that are diagonally opposite one another the detachable securing means for the slit edges of the two plaits being adapted to be released in connection with conversion of the garment to a culotte and being so designed and constructed that after release they.

permit the slit edge of the intermediate interior panel of the front plait to be attached to the slit edge of said adjacent enfoldment of the rear plait and the slit edge of the intermediate interior panel of the rear plait to be attached to the slit edge of said adjacent infoldment of the front plait, the detachable means for securing the cut edges of the plaits being adapted to be released in connection with conversion of the garment to a culotte and serving when released to permit the parts beneath the cuts in the plaits to droop for crotch accommodating purposes.

LEONARD WOLMAN. HARRY DEUTSCH. 

